Stricken Down
by Akasuna no Rin
Summary: Alex loves her Rune Factory game so much that she is onto her third time playing it. Too bad this go around will be a bit different from the last two...Maybe she'll learn something this time./ OC/Tori, shoujo-ai/yuri


A/N: Okay, so I wrote this quite randomly, as I had not played Rune Factory in quite a while when I actually wrote this. The story idea just kind of hit me. I apologize for any problems, as I had to rely on the internet to figure out some of the interactions between characters. I am most definitely still lodged in the Axis Powers Hetalia fandom though, so this was just a quick break from that.

* * *

"What I think you should do, Alex, is to stop playing that stupid game. I mean, haven't you already beaten it several times? I don't see what's so interesting, don't you just farm in that game?" moaned Alex's friend, James. He batted his black hair out of his eyes and stared at Alex, who made no move to respond to his complaining. "OK, seriously. We're walking home in the rain. Won't that damage your DS or something?"

"I can do what I want. You're just jealous I'm not paying attention to you, Mr. Big Ego," Alex responded without looking up from her game. It was the first Rune Factory, the only version she owned, and she had, in fact beaten it several times. At her comment, James made a "psshhht" noise, and Alex smiled, knowing she had been right.

"Come on, we're walking through an open field now. You might get hit by lightning!" James said, and Alex laughed, actually looking up from her game.

"That's very unlikely. Of all the places that lightning could hit, it wouldn't hit me. It would hit a tree at the edge of the field or something," Alex told him, and her words were followed by thunder.

"If that's really what you think, I'll just leave you to it. You can call me when you get home, if you can tear yourself away from your all important game," James said before he ran ahead, leaving Alex alone in the field, and she looked back at the game. It's not like she was in an important part, she had actually just restarted the game, so it wasn't like anything was so interesting. Maybe she should listen to James, the storm _was_ getting stronger now.

Then, suddenly, there was a flash, and her entire body was hot, too hot, and she couldn't see anything, and in the back of her mind she heard thunder roar loud. Then she realized that she was laying on the ground, and she couldn't feel her ds in her hands, or anything really. She also thought she could hear someone calling to her from far away.

"Hello? Are you ok?" Alex could hear from somewhere, and she fought to open her eyes. When she finally did, she saw a girl leaning over her, white-blonde hair pooling around the person's face. She actually looked quite a bit like Mist, the first girl in the game. Once Alex looked down, she saw that the girl's clothes were that of Mist's, so either she was dreaming, or she had fallen into a cosplayer's paradise. Alex sat up and looked at the Mist-look-alike. "Oh, it's good to see that you're OK. My name is Mist, what's yours?" Alex just looked at her for a moment, thinking that the girl was a bit extreme of a cosplayer, to introduce oneself as the character you are cosplaying. But the girl seemed to not think it odd at all. Then it hit her. The lightning must have sent her here, as much sense as that would make. But that's just about the only one she could come up with, and frankly, that was pretty cool.

"My name is Alex," Alex said, then jumped. Her voice had come out a little more masculine than she had remembered it being. She looked down.

That was not her chest. That's really all there was to say. She pulled her hand up and saw that it was a lot bigger than she remembered it being. Looking around, she started to panic.

"Say, Mist, what do I look like to you?" Alex asked, and Mist looked at her like she was a weirdo. Which would make sense at the moment, but still. It was rude of her.

"Er, well, you have brown hair that's kind of long, and you're taller than me, and... I really don't know what you want me to say," Mist said.

"Am I a guy?" Alex asked, and then she really got the weirdo look.

"Yes, at least that I can tell," Mist said, and Alex took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry. I'm just trying to get things straight in my mind. I mean, I just can't remember anything about myself," Alex said, playing into Raguna's story.

"Oh," Mist said, looking at Alex with pity, "I'm so sorry. You could stay in the extra house I have north of here, if you have no where to stay."

"Yes, please. That would be really nice of you," Alex said quietly, thinking, 'Has anyone noticed how weird it is that she randomly owns a spare house that is not in use, with a field next to it and everything?'

"Here, take these. You can use them to farm the field next to the house," Mist said, handing Alex a hoe and a water bucket out of what must be her hammerspace, and Alex followed her to what would soon be Alex's new home. Alex went through the rest of the tutorial type stuff barely paying any attention. She was just waiting for when the-

"Alex! Watch out!" Mist cried, and Alex noticed the monster headed her way. Brandishing the hoe like a sword, Alex approached the monster, hacking at it with all she could. It was a lot different when it was real life, and not just repeatedly hitting the same button. It hurt when she was hit and it took an effort to swing the garden tool with enough force to hurt the monster. Once the monster was gone and Mist had congratulated her on her feat, Alex was ready to go on with the rest of the game, taking the entire thing in stride, even the fact that she was in Raguna's body.

When she was finally done with that, she went into town to introduce herself to the people that she could introduce herself to, considering that today was Holiday. Knowing that, she decided that the church was the best place to go to, and when the doors swung open, she spotted several people. She made her way, one by one, introducing herself to all of the characters and trying to ignore the fact that some of the eligible girls were making eyes at her.

That next morning Bianca and her dad dropped in, and Alex had to listen to Bianca complain about how bad it smells, and, because it would have made a bad impression, Alex didn't say a word. Once the shops opened up she went to all the shops to introduce herself to those people that she hadn't been able to find the day before. The introductions went very much the same way they did in the game, and Alex found herself growing ever so slightly bored of it all, and the only thing that made her not bored was the fact that she was now seeing all the characters in person, and not on a game.

Once she had introduced herself, she set about getting into a routine of farming, and doing all the other things that she needed to get money (wonder, was it, that she had to eat in this world.) Mist continued to come to her farm and watch her do whatever it was that she did when she was farming. All in all, it got rather peaceful.

…

It was the 18h of Spring. The date had slipped Alex's mind, what with all the farming she had been doing (like fighting monsters, it was much different when you were doing it in real life.) She went into town to get more seeds, only to find all the stores closed and all the people in town spread all over the place. Instead of going back home to check the calendar, she decided to just ask Rosetta, who was standing nearby.

"Hey, Rosetta!" Alex called to the girl, who looked over from where her dad was now walking away. The blond girl smiled at Alex, and Alex smiled back.

"Yes, Alex?" Rosetta asked, looking expectant.

"I was just wondering why all of the shops are closed, it's not Holiday," Alex said, and Rosetta looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"It's the Spring Festival, when guys give girls cookies," Rosetta answered, "You should know that. You are one of the bachelor's in this town. If you don't pay attention to the days, you're gonna make some pretty girls very angry."

"Oh. Thank you," Alex said in a monotone, walking away from her, leaving her a little confused.

It's not that Alex didn't know about that part of the game. She knew that part really well, and she usually made sure to play the field throughout most of the game and raise the affections of all of the girls. It's just, she had completely forgot because...well, frankly, Alex wasn't a lesbian. She'll play a simulation, sure, that's not real life. In her first game she had married Rosetta, and in her second game she had married Melody, but that was just a game. Now it was real.

"Oh, Alex, there you are. I was wondering where you were," Russell said, "We got a new load of books yesterday, and I know you like to come to the library."

"Oh, thanks for telling me," Alex said, turning and looking at Russell. If only she were a girl in this world. And if only Russell was a little younger and didn't have a daughter (even if she was adopted.) That would be a lot easier, but it was true to her nature. She would have to play the simulation part of the game too, because that's just the way she was. She had to beat things, she couldn't leave them undone.

It's not like she could have done anything this go around anyway. You can't fix food until much later in the game. She started walking again, noticing that Russell had moved on to talking to Tori. Now she just had to figure out who she was going to aim for this time. What girl would be pursued this time? Alex decided to leave that off till a later date, and walked back to her house.

…

"Alex, y-you come here a lot, d-don't you?" Tori asked Alex as she browsed through the books, glad that there were more books now than there was in the game. Alex turned to the girl, smiling at her.

"Oh, yeah, I do. I just like to read, I guess. The same for you, right? You're in here an awful lot," Alex told Tori.

"Yes, I do. W-what kind of books do you like?" Tori asked.

"Well, I really like the ones about..."

…

"Alex, you don't have to give me anything. I don't want anything from you," Bianca said in response to the strawberry that Alex had offered her (of whichAlex had a constant supply growing in Carmite cave.) "I'd prefer it if you just talked, okay? So don't get me anything."

"Of course. If companionship is all you want," Alex said, and then she could hear footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Bianca, I'm going to go out to get some more food, okay?" Tabatha told Bianca, who nodded.

"Hey, I'll come too. I need to get some more seeds anyway," Alex said to Tabatha.

"If that's what you want, then come along."

…

"Rosetta, oh Rosetta. What a beautiful name for a beautiful lady," Alex walked into Jean's shop to find Lukas striking out with Rosetta yet again. Rosetta turned at the bell, smiling widely when she saw Alex entering the shop.

"Alex! It's nice to see you here," Rosetta said, and Lukas turned and walked out, whispering something rude to Alex as he walked by.

"Nice to see you as well, Rosetta," Alex said, then walked up and handed her a strawberry. "I know you like these, and I just so happen to grow plenty of them."

"Alex, I hope you know that I can see you giving all the girls gifts. We can't be bought." Rosetta told Alex, but she smiled anyway.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," Alex said, trying to do her best to send a handsome smile at Rosetta.

"You and Lukas should be friends. The two of you could go and strike out with girls all over the place," Rosetta said, then turned and gave an order to her father, telling him that he was doing something wrong.

'Oh, how much James would laugh if he had just heard that sentence,' Alex thought as she exited the shop.

…

Alex lay on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. She found herself thinking about all the girls in the town again, wondering what in the world she was to do. In the games it was an easy choice. One of the girls each game, and once you clear her, go through it again. But now it was harder. They all had personalities, and they were all really nice. As much as she had thought it was weird at first, she found herself liking all the girls in a different way. Maybe it was the fact that she was a guy at the moment, but she hadn't thought about just hitting on the guys. Maybe it was the fact that she was sure that would get her kicked out of the town. But she was perfectly fine with going for girls, at least for the moment.

She had been delivering gifts to all of the girls every day, give or take. She never gave anything to Mist though, as mean as that was. Alex had a distaste for her, because even in this world, she didn't have a personality, and could just be found watching you work in the fields all day. Mist was just the generic starter girl. Another one that she knew would never happen is Bianca, because even though she spoke to her every day, Bianca was a rich bitch, plain and simple. She wasn't going to try to wait for Lynette either, and she kept forgetting that Sharron was even a choice. That still left quite a few girls that she had liked before hands.

But those that she had eliminated from her mental list were characters that she didn't like when outside of the game. There were some that she liked outside of the game but that she was honestly having trouble liking when she was actually talking to them. Lara was a nice character outside of the game, but when she was real, she nagged you about your health a little bit more than Alex cared for. She had liked Rosetta at first, but she seemed to be just be a counter to Mist. She had only slightly more personality than Mist.

Alex pulled the covers up closer to herself. She was thinking about this too much. Tomorrow Alex would go try to beat Clemens Cave, and it wouldn't be a good idea to be thinking about this.

…

"Tori, do you ever go anywhere other than the library and your house?" Alex asked Tori once, later on, when he was in the library.

"Um, n-no. Why?" Tori answered, and Alex shrugged.

"I dunno. I was just thinking that maybe you should get out a little more," Alex said.

"Um..."

"Not meaning anything rude by that or anything! I think you're a great person just the way you are!" Alex freaked out, worried that she had insulted Tori. Tori bit her lip to hide a laugh.

"Alex, are we friends?" Tori asked her out of the blue. Alex looked directly at Tori.

"Yeah, why?" Alex said, and Tori just smiled.

"I was j-just wondering. You c-can tell me a-anything, okay?" Tori told her, and Alex patted her on the shoulder.

"Of course I will. If I ever feel the need to confide in someone, you will be my first choice," Alex told her.

…

Alex couldn't see the love and friendship points like on the game, which was annoying. But that just meant it was like real life. But right now, she really wished she could see it, because did she ever wanna see what the people in this town thought of her. Some (Bianca) had told her that she was a very feminine guy (funny, when she was a girl she was a tomboy. Maybe she just couldn't win.) but other than that, she couldn't tell. Luckily, she more or less knew who she liked (she had it narrowed down to two people.) Too bad she couldn't tell what one thought of her, and the other one clearly only thought of her as a friend.

So she finally decided to keep her promise to Tori and sort of confide in her. Not that she was actually a girl in a guy's body-that might freak her out a bit. No, she was going to tell her that she liked Tabatha, and see if she could help her figure out how she felt. All the while, she was going to try to tell how Tori felt about her...because Alex found herself slowly but surely falling for the bookish little girl she called her friend, but she also found herself liking Tabatha. She was almost forgetting the fact that she was a girl (kinda easy to do when you had to bathe yourself every day.)

The door to the library pushed slowly open, and Alex was greeted by the smell of books. Russell greeted her as she walked in and she waved and said hello before walking back to the back, where Tori usually was. Alex peaked around the shelf to find Tori leaning up against a bookshelf and reading a book, her blonde braids pulled in front of her. Alex found herself blushing momentarily, before shaking herself off and going forward.

"Tori?" Alex asked, and she looked up quickly from her book.

"Yes?" Tori asked, and Alex looked sheepishly at her.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something..." Alex started, and Tori smiled.

"O-of course, anything you need," Tori said, and Alex sat down on the floor in front of her.

"I was hoping that maybe you could help me, um, I , kinda um, I kinda like Tabatha. And I was wondering if maybe you could figure out how she felt about me..." Alex said, and Tori's smile fell.

"O-of course I can. I'll do a-anything for you," Tori said, quieter this time, and Alex sensed some hidden note in her voice.

"Thank you so much, Tori," Alex said, then hugged her.

"You're w-welcome," Tori said as Alex got up and walked out of the library.

…

Laying in bed that night, Alex felt like she had made a huge mistake. Something about the way Tori acted around Alex was making her surer and surer that she liked Tori more than she liked Tabatha. But she had already asked Tori to see about Tabatha, and Tori had told her she would, so there's no way that Tori could possibly like her, not if she had promised to do that.

But Alex still couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret for what she did. She told herself that there was no way that Tori could like her that way. It was her safest bet.

…

"Tori loves you, you know," came the offhanded comment from Rosetta a couple days later. At Alex's stare, Rosetta glared at her. "I say this because I can tell you like her, even if you seem conflicted. I also know that you asked her to see if Tabatha likes you a couple days ago." When Alex stared at her again, Rosetta said, "What? It's not like you two are the only ones allowed in the library."

"But-I...How can she? She promised me to ask Tabatha if-"

"She just wants you to be happy, okay? She'd do anything if it would make you happy. My thought is that you should invite her to Moonlit Eve tomorrow. I'm just saying," Rosetta said, then walked away, Lukas following a few steps behind, glaring at her probably because he thought they had been flirting. Not that that would be a problem, because by now Alex was a total Lukas/Rosetta shipper.

…

That next day, Alex crept into the library at around three pm. Russell just stared at her, probably thinking that she had broken Tori's heart or something. Alex ignored his glares as she walked on by, going back to Tori's usual area.

"Tori?" Alex said quietly as he rounded the corner, and the timid girl's head popped up from her book, albeit not as fast as it had the other day.

"Y-yes, Alex?" Tori said.

"I was wondering if I could ask you another question," Alex said, and Tori's face fell again.

"If it's about Tabatha-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's not. I was wondering if maybe...maybe you'd like to go on Moonlit Eve with me," Alex said, looking at the floor. She heard a whimper.

"B-but you asked about T-Tabatha the other day, you told me you l-liked her..." Tori said, growing louder.

"I've been trying to figure out who I like more, you or her. And I finally decided, though not until after I had asked you that," Alex said, still not meeting Tori's eyes.

"I-I'd love to go on Moonlit Eve with you," Tori said, and Alex grinned, finally looking up and meeting Tori's eyes.

…

Alex made her way up Mt. Clemens to meet Tori. She was very, very aware of all of her surroundings as she finally found Tori, standing up on the highest point.

"Hey," Alex said, and Tori jumped, looking over at Alex.

"H-hi," Tori stuttered, and Alex made her way over to her so that she could stand next to the timid little blonde. They both just stared into the sunset for a while, and Alex started hoping that maybe Tori would make a move. Then she remembered that she was the male, and not only that, but Tori was very, very shy. So, slowly, carefully, Alex reached over and took Tori's hand. Tori jumped slightly when she did, but didn't pull away. They stood longer, and Alex was hoping that the night would never end. But the edges of her vision were becoming blurrier and blurrier, and Alex didn't know why. As she wondered what was happened, she got the urge to kiss Tori before all of this was gone. Leaning over, Tori quickly realized what Alex's intentions were, but didn't move an inch away. Alex was approaching...getting closer. Alex could feel Tori's breath on her face, when suddenly, it was all gone. All feeling was gone, and any light. There was nothing.

"I think we're getting something here...there are blips on her monitor," Alex heard from some faraway place.

"Oh-oh, look, she's waking up!" Alex heard a familiar voice as she slowly started to regain feeling. But she couldn't feel Tori's hand anymore. Her eyes darted open and she sat straight up.

"Where am I? Where's Tori?" Alex blurted, and the people in the room started to look around. The other people in the room looked around, confused.

"It's probably something left over from her coma," one of the older men said.

"Alex! You're OK! I was so worried when I saw the lightning strike, I feel like it's my fault for leaving you alone in that field!" came the familiar voice as arms wrapped around her. Suddenly her old life all came back to her, and she remembered who this person was.

"James?" Alex whispered.

"Oh thank goodness," James said, and everyone in the room started to move in a hustle and bustle to call the patient's resting parents back to the hospital.

…

It was all just a dream. A beautiful, wonderful, awesome dream that could never be real, no matter how many times Alex wished on a falling star (or the occasional airplane) for it to be real again. No matter how many times she told James, he would never understand what made it so special, because, as he put it, "Tori isn't real. We are. Live for what is real."

But that doesn't stop the fact that Alex couldn't stop going to the library. She practically lived there. She was waiting, even though she knew somewhere deep down that it was never going to be.

Then she saw two blonde braids swing past. She came out of her reverie

to see Tori standing nearby, looking at one of the sections of books. But upon looking closer, she could tell there were differences. Like the fact that this girl was taller, and wore a little bit less pink. She had the long blonde braids and the glasses though, which was enough to give Alex to courage to speak to her.

"H-hello," Alex said, standing behind her. The girl started a bit and turned around.

"Oh, sorry. You scared me there. I get really into my books sometimes," the Tori-look-alike said.

"Oh, it's okay, you just reminded me of someone, is all," Alex said, tucking her now long brown hair behind her ear.

"Really? Ah, I might as well introduce myself. I'm Victoria, I'm kinda new around here."

"My name is Alexis, but I prefer to be called Alex."

"That's a pretty name."

"You think so? I like yours too."

* * *

A/N: If you managed to read this far, thank you so much, and please review! This is my first yuri story, so please have mercy on me.


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